Tag: internship

I think I am the exception to most people my age, but since graduating college I will have lived in 5 different places. I graduated at 22 and am now 24 to put things in context for you. That’s 5 places in 2 and a half years and you can bet they were all life lessons.

When I graduated from college, I convinced my parents to let me stay at the house I’d been living in the past two years of college because I got an internship sort of nearby. College campuses in the summer are a whole new type of weird I can’t even explain and they are also very empty. I spent a lot of time living between different houses and traveling a long ways to work. When the internship ended, I moved home and got a job there.

Living at home is definitely something I know a lot of people can relate to. It’s like you automatically revert back to your 16 year old self when living with your parents. My parents had moved out of my childhood home when I was in college, so this was pretty strange for me. I didn’t really have my own room that was truly mine with any space for my stuff. I saved a lot of money, but my job was very basic and my parents were driving me nuts. So 6 months after I moved in, I got a new job and moved out.

I was in a rush and on a deadline, so I moved into a house with 3 other roommates. They were all strangers and they continued to be strangers the 10 months I lived there. I’m not very outgoing and everyone was on different schedules and were different ages. I spent most of the time in my room or tip toeing to the bathroom and kitchen. I really thought it was going to be super temporary, but I stayed there for almost a year until it became just too weird for me.

So, I moved out again. This time into a single apartment with a small kitchenette attached to the living room. I was paying for everything myself so I didn’t buy cable/wifi and I also didn’t have a freezer or oven. I’m coming up on a year at this apartment and it’s kind of amazing that I lived without things that a lot of people consider necessities. While I loved the apartment, it was time to take a next step and move in with my boyfriend.

In a few weeks we’ll be moving into a two bedroom, two bathroom apartment with a loft that I’m obsessed with. After this, I really hope to stay put for a while because anyone who has moved a lot knows that moving in and out is not fun. At all.

While in the workplace, small talk is guaranteed. When someone’s waiting to use the Keurig after you, or you cross paths on the way to the bathroom, or you sit with someone you’re not bff’s with at lunch…you will almost always hear these five conversations.

1. How cold it is in the office

When in doubt, talk about the office temperature. “Oh, you think it’s too cold? I don’t think it’s that bad today.” or “I know! I’m always so cold.”

2. How your weekend was

There will always be a rundown of the PG-13 activities you did that weekend.

3. What you’re doing this weekend

Because really we spend all week working just to get to the weekend.

4. The commute

Did you hit traffic? I saw an accident today…etc. etc.

5. Non controversial news topics

Like you’re not going to be talking about police hate crimes, but if there was a recent robbery at a local convenience store you can talk about that.

For someone who has lived in the same state for 18 years, I don’t particularly like being stagnant. I like to consistently meet new people, do new things, and never stop learning.

That’s why I love being an intern.

I had an internship almost every year that I was in college and even if some of them weren’t what I thought they were going to be, I still loved having the opportunity to be an intern at a different company every summer.

Because what’s life if you’re not being taught new things all the time? You don’t just leave school and settle with the information you have, you continue to yearn for more knowledge and skill sets.

I wish I could be an intern forever, work somewhere temporarily and learn a whole new field of work and business. Then move on to the next one. One of my biggest fears (as I’m searching for a career) is that I will get a job in a place where my learning will come to a halt. Yes, I’ll be getting the necessary experience to move on to a second job eventually. But that’s not after a couple of months, it’s after a couple years with the same company where you’re probably doing the same thing.

I like being good at what I do and would enjoy to work for a company for a couple of years, as long as there will be growth in the long run. As an intern, everyone around you is constantly pushing you to grow. They are forcing you outside of your comfort zone and giving you a new experience. Can I also find this in a career?

Whether it’s working in a huge corporate office or small business, whether you’re the only intern or in a group with others, whether you’re actually being productive or kind of just clicking around on the computer all day – having an internship can give you the ability to unlock a ton of knowledge that you just can’t learn in college. And trust me, you won’t really learn what your future career is all about from the professors who are just talking at you in a classroom.

I love being an intern, but the real world requires me to work a full time job for the rest of my life. So I’ll take my skills from each internship, call it years of experience, and try to get a big girl job as soon as possible.